I hope you had a great week and are looking forward to the weekend ahead. We are grateful for many things as we head into Thanksgiving. Please read below for a few updates.
1. Chargers in the Community
Our leadership students are once again getting the opportunity to work with community members of all ages. Each week, students get the chance to go to Nose Creek to mentor younger students. Additionally, students get to work with elderly residents at the Airdrie Lodge. It is great to see our Chargers being great citizens and making Airdrie a better place for all.
2. Turkey Bowl Food Drive
We are proud of the BCHS community for stepping up for a good cause and raising money and food for the Airdrie Food Bank. As victors in the challenge with WH Croxford, Coach Donahue and Principal Smith made good on their bet to wear the opposing team's jersey at school. Congrats to everyone involved in the good cause!
3. Photography students capturing fall colours!
We have had brilliant weather this fall, and our photography students have been busy capturing it. The students take photos on campus and on field trips to places such as Horseshoe Canyon and the zoo. We look forward to sharing these photos as they come in. Thank you for sharing, Mr. Maudie.
4. Message from RVS
All RVS schools are sharing the message below with our community in our efforts to work together for overall community safety. Please read below.
We have received some reports of adults approaching students in some RVS communities and attempting to engage in dialogue. When these concerns are brought to our school’s attention, we inform RCMP, the division and make families aware. With the safety of our students as our top priority, as a precaution, we ask you to talk to your children about being aware of strangers and what to do if they are approached. Thank you for your support as we work together to keep our students safe.
Have a great weekend,
Ryan Reed
Principal | Bert Church High School
Our leadership students are again offering an official BCHS gear order for our community. Please follow the link below.
The store closes on November 10th, with production commencing on the 14th, so orders are ready for the holiday season.
Students in Foods baked cakes & made soup this week under the watchful eye of Mrs. Chapman. Awesome work kids!
Our athletic options were busy this week, with students participating in aquacise, listening to a guest dietician speaker, and warming up in the gym with dance! It is great to see so many Chargers getting active!
Mr. McRae's Social 20-1 class participated in a model UN activity in the Learning Commons. Great to see learning coming alive through creative ideas.
Open House Season!
With startup over at the school, our gr. 11 and 12 students may be thinking about their next steps. October is a busy month for post-secondary institutions getting ready for the next wave of students to hit their campuses. To help our parents and students prepare, please see the list below of popular BCHS graduate destination open houses. For the most up-to-date information on the post-secondary of your choice, make sure to keep an eye on their website.
Bert Church High School will host the ELAA post-secondary event at our school on Wednesday, November 30th, from 6:30 - 8:00 PM. This event brings many post-secondary institutions to one spot to help students explore possibilities. Mark your calendar.
CAREERS Internship Information Night
Make money, earn credits, and gain valuable career experience. CAREERS works with your school and local employers to offer paid internships. Students, parents, and teachers are invited to join CAREERS at their information session. Learn about how to get started and hear about the current opportunities that are available near you in paid positions in areas such as the skilled trades, information and communications technology (ICT), agriculture, forestry, and more!
CAREERS invites you to attend one of their upcoming Skilled Trades and Internship Fairs, connecting students, parents, educators, and employers to increase awareness about the amazing opportunities in off-campus education. Students will learn about the range of opportunities in the skilled trades and related occupations and how they can apply for paid work as part of an integrated learning internship. Over 50 skilled trades employers will be present.
How to prepare for Post-Secondary! Thanks to Ms. Tiemstra for putting together a helpful document for all of our gr. 11/12 students to consider their next steps for post-secondary!
GRADE 11 TO DO LIST
Semester 1 (September – December)
Begin or continue with extracurricular activities. It might not help you to be admitted into a program, but it will help you to apply for scholarships. Post-Secondary schools love students with leadership, drive & community involvement experience.
Take school seriously – marks from grade 11 are looked at for early admission to a lot of programs.
Talk to your School Counsellor to choose the right courses and prerequisites you will need for your university program of your choice.
Research careers you are interested in using myBlueprint , talk to professionals or relatives in that career.
Attend Post-Secondary fairs at your school or nearby schools, also attend Open Houses of your top 3 or 4 places.
If interested in USA schools, register for an Int’l sitting of the SAT exam offered five times per year. Visit www.CollegeBoard.org for dates.
Semester 2 (February – May)
When you find a school program you are interested in – become aware of the program’s admission courses as well as school specific scholarships. Choose a second choice school that offers your program and make sure of its admission courses.
If you are looking outside of AB, make sure to take note of that provinces’ admission deadlines and processes.
Pick your Grade 12 courses to ensure graduation and admission to Post-Secondary.
Attend any career fairs and industry fairs in the field of your interest. See if there are any summer volunteer or work programs.
See if the schools you are interested in offer Campus Tours or Student for a Day Programs
Discuss costs for post-secondary education with your family. How will you afford it? Savings? Scholarships? Student Loans? Working?
Look for a summer job or volunteer opportunity especially in the area of your interest. Make sure to update your resume from CALM class to include current information.
Read the Bert Church Charger Connects to know when events are happening & when Lunch N’ Learns are being offered by School Counsellors: Scholarships 101, Applying to University – Using Apply AB, various Post-Secondary schools coming to present, etc.
Alberta Post Secondary Event
Nov. 30th, 2022 6:30 - 8pm @ Bert Church High School
Out of Province Post Secondary Events
October 19th, 2022 6 - 8pm @ Winston Churchill High School - Calgary
October 20th, 2022 6 – 7:30pm @ Cochrane High School
October 26th, 2022 6 – 8pm @ Crescent Heights High School – Calgary
GRADE 12 TO DO LIST
Semester 1 (September – December)
Narrow your choice of university programs to a handful. Know these programs’ application dates and scholarship deadlines. Keep your information organized in one place.
Narrow your choices or Program or School to a maximum of 3 (2 in AB and 1 outside of province if wanted)
-remember to indicate choice 1 and choice 2 for each University so that you only pay the school fee once.
Start filling in your information into ApplyAlberta – it saves automatically so you can go back into it
Start looking at scholarship spreadsheets or databases, preparing common information. Give your references plenty of time to write letters of recommendation.
Create your myPass account so that you can look at your diploma exam marks in February and be able to sign up for rewrites or transcripts.
October 1st – 5th
You can now start applying to Post-Secondary programs. Academic averages are set and you can start applying to secure an early admission.
Use ApplyAlberta - remember to add every possibly useful course at a 20 level and 30 level into marks history and add every school you attended in highschool, remembering summer school or virtual schools.
Go into myPass – transcripts and send to the schools you have applied to IF they are not in AB.
Letters of admission or conditional acceptance start to arrive.
Keep track of the emails and paperwork that is sent to you from the schools – make note of next steps and deadlines.
Semester 2 (February – July)
Continue applying for scholarships, bursaries
Letters of admission or conditional acceptance continue to arrive. If it is a program of 1st admitted – 1st Qualified they will continue to accept students until all seats are FULL.
Apply for residence (if you didn’t do that when initially applying) as it is on a first come, first served basis.
Consider federal and provincial student loans and start application with all supporting documents. Applications open in April/May and have to be submitted in June.
Confirm your admission acceptance, pay the “hold your spot fee” by the deadline and attend any how to create your 1st year schedule workshops.
